COVID Updates
The county updates COVID and vaccine stats Monday through Friday, so the next update will appear here tomorrow.
Appointments to Get the COVID Vaccine (Eligibility)
State of Colorado’s Find Out Where You Can Get Vaccinated page
Safeway | King Soopers | Lutheran Medical Center | JCPH Clinic in Arvada (70+ only)
State Hotline to answer questions, including location of vaccine providers: 1-877-268-2926. It is staffed 24 hours a day.
Golden Testing Sites
Mines COVID Testing | Jeffco Fairgrounds COVID Testing
More Public Health References
School of Mines COVID-19 case page. | Sign up for exposure notifications | CDC | Colorado | Jefferson County | City of Golden
Virtual Events
10:15-10:30AM Cuentacuentos en español / Spanish Story Time
2PM Virtual/Call In: Active Minds Mondays – Prohibition
4-5PM Virtual: Recursos Digitales
4-4:30PM Kids Martial Arts Class
5-6PM Virtual: Young Readers Book Club – Mystery
6:30PM Rescheduled: Downtown Development Authority Meeting
The DDA will discuss the 5-Start Business Certification program, repairing Prospectors Alley, the new ADA ramp at 11th and Washington, and adding decorative lighting to Miners Alley.
7-8PM Colorado Mountain Weather – Colorado Mountain Club
Backcountry Film Festival Runs Feb 15-March 1
Real World Golden
11AM Chow Down For the Coyotes!
The Buffalo Rose is hosting a fund-raiser for Shelton Elementary. They are closed this evening, but you can enjoy lunch today–either dining in or take-out–from 11AM to 3PM. Either way, the Buffalo Rose will donate 15% to Shelton Elementary PTSA.
The deal is still available tomorrow. Enjoy either lunch or dinner on Tuesday, 11AM-9PM. View the menu.
Golden History Moment
67 Years Ago
On February 22, 1954, Golden’s glitterati attended an open house, celebrating the re-opening of the Jefferson County Museum. The museum had been closed for more than a decade but was now reopening in larger quarters in the old courthouse. The party was attended by more than 200 people, with the Melodears from Golden High School providing entertainment.
The museum originated as a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project in 1938. Its original home was in the old North School, at 6th and Washington. That school had been closed when the Central School (later called Mitchell Elementary) opened in 1936. The County purchased it for use as a “Courthouse Annex,” and assigned one of the former classrooms for use as a museum.
The primary goal of the WPA was to provide employment for people, so the initial allocation of $6,880 was expressed as “work for 17 people for six months.”
County residents were generous in giving or loaning both archives and artifacts to the new museum. As the May 4, 1939 Transcript reported, “There is scarcely a family in the county which has not some article of this kind stored in the basement, attic, or out in the garage in danger of being lost or destroyed.” Staff was kept busy cataloging and arranging the incoming stream of relics. They soon found that they had more artifacts than could be exhibited at any given time.
Because the museum was attracting so much interest (and so many artifacts), they were granted an additional $8,400 in May of 1939. This grant also encompassed “preparation of display materials.”
In addition to the collection of artifacts, the project had a staff artist, who painted portraits (based on old photos) of some of the county’s early residents. She also created a series of dioramas, some of which are still in the museum’s collection. WPA staff also built tables and display cases.
According to a 1953 Transcript article, the total allocated to the museum by the various Roosevelt-era agencies was $75,000. The same article said that at one time “some ten or twelve persons” were working at the museum.
Most of the WPA projects saw cutbacks as time went by, and the museum was no exception. It was closed through parts of 1940 and 1941. The County tried to keep it open a few hours a week by connecting it with a rural circulating library and having a single staff person in charge of both programs.
Once World War II began, the museum was closed for the duration. It remained closed until 1953, when the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution offered to assume responsibility for managing it. The county had built a new courthouse by then, so the museum was moved from the North School into a larger space–the former district courtroom in the old (1878) courthouse.
The City of Golden acquired the old courthouse from the county in 1957, with the stipulation that the City would maintain the museum. The City decided to sell the old courthouse and build a new city hall and municipal building. Space for the museum was included in the plans for the new buildings.
The Daughters of the American Revolution continued to manage the museum for more than 50 years–first inside the municipal building and later in the building next door, the former library. The City took over management of the museum in 2007. It is now called the Golden History Museum.
Many thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
